Economic cost of US gun violence: $229bn annually
In the US, the human toll of gun violence is 33,000 Americans a year, with 80,000 others injured. The financial and economic costs as a result are astounding and the total price tag is said to be around $229 billion dollars a year in direct and indirect costs.
The US is awash with guns. It has a population of 307 million people. Based on production data from firearm manufacturers, there are roughly 300 million firearms owned by Americans.
So it is no surprise that there are so many gun-related deaths. But the indirect costs as a result of gun deaths ultimately comes out of the tax-payers' pockets.
Why does the US government allow for Americans to own guns in the first place? It is called the 2nd amendment, the right to bear arms, and the second one: the NRA, the National Rifle Association.
Even though owning guns is instilled in the American culture, it is the influence that the NRA has over US Congress members, like future presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who has stopped motions into gun control, like strict background checks.
Ultimately, the NRA wants to make sure gun sales are taking place to profit the corporations that own the gun manufacturers like the famous manufacturer of Bushmaster, owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a hedge fund company.
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